Lynette Gibson McElhaney

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Lynette Gibson McElhaney
Image of Lynette Gibson McElhaney
Prior offices
Oakland City Council District 3
Successor: Carroll Fife

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

High school

San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts

Bachelor's

University of California, Berkeley

Personal
Profession
Nonprofit executive director
Contact

Lynette Gibson McElhaney was a member of the Oakland City Council in California, representing District 3. McElhaney assumed office in 2013. McElhaney left office on January 4, 2021.

McElhaney ran for re-election to the Oakland City Council to represent District 3 in California. McElhaney lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Although city council elections in Oakland are officially nonpartisan, Gibson McElhaney was known to be a member of the Democratic Party.[1]

Biography

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Gibson McElhaney holds a B.S. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.[2]

Her professional experience includes work as the executive director and chief executive officer of the affordable housing development and advocacy organization Neighborhood Housing Services and as a principal in the organizational development company Legacies Leadership Group. She has served as a member of the executive committee of Black Women Organized for Political Action and as president of the Berkley Maynard Academy TAP Organization, a parent-led partnership between academy parents and teachers.[2][3]

Gibson McElhaney lives in West Oakland with her husband, Clarence, and their youngest son.[4][5]

Elections

2020

See also: City elections in Oakland, California (2020)

General election

General election for Oakland City Council District 3

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Carroll Fife in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.


Total votes: 30,408
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Oakland, California (2016)

The city of Oakland, California, held elections for city council in 2016. Five of the eight city council seats were up for election. Incumbent Lynette Gibson McElhaney defeated Noni Session in the general election for the District 3 seat on the Oakland City Council.[6]

Oakland City Council District 3, General Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Lynette Gibson McElhaney Incumbent 56.03% 13,025
Noni Session 43.13% 10,026
Write-in votes 0.84% 196
Total Votes 23,247
Source: Alameda County Registrar of Voters, "Certified Election Results," accessed December 1, 2016

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Lynette Gibson McElhaney did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

Gibson McElhaney's 2016 campaign website highlighted the following issues:

Make Oakland Safe

Oakland cannot progress until we have taken control of our crime problem, particularly in the toughest neighborhoods where violence is rampant.

I will work with faith communities, residents and the Oakland Police Department to champion the successful implementation of a Ceasefire/ Lifelines to Healing strategy in West Oakland and work with schools and the parks and recreation department to support upstream solutions to prevent crime.

I will also support our Business Improvement Districts by helping them provide private security to augment scarce police resources. I will work to increase funding for public safety.[7] [8]

Fix City Government

We deserve a city government that is accessible and responsive. We must fight for transparency, customer service and accountability.

I support OpenSource and the City Administrator’s efforts to restore confidence in our civil corps. If elected, my office door will be open for all Oakland residents and businesses.

We need a vibrant, open and honest municipality that serves its citizens, not shuns them. My vision of City Hall is a place where government uses its credibility and power to convene diverse groups and create solutions for the common good.[9] [8]

Strengthen Our Schools

Our city council has not typically played an active role in partnering with Oakland public schools.

I will act differently. I seek to collaborate with the OUSD Board and staff to adopt strategies that improve performance for students and families. This includes partnerships with non-profit organizations and foundations to improve educational outcomes for K-12 students as well as adult learners.

I will find ways to help improve literacy rates, increase school attendance and enrollment, restore vocational education and adopt creative solutions to provide alternative learning formats.

I will continue the fight to save McClymonds as an historically significant institution and work to take advantage of STEM programming as a catalyst for positive change.[10] [8]

Repair Oakland’s Economy

We must make starting (or expanding) a business easier in Oakland.

As a council member I will design incentives to attract and retain businesses and support the establishment of worker-owned cooperatives and non-profit social enterprises that help our people obtain meaningful, living- wage jobs.

I will fight to create 10,000 new jobs in Oakland in my first term. This effort will require work. Promoting development will help, but we also need to create living wage jobs and reward entrepreneurship. A city that works puts its people to work.[11] [8]

Improve Community Health

Residents across District 3, from West Oakland to the Uptown to Jack London, are exposed to numerous environmental hazards.

This exposure results in higher-than-normal asthma rates, lead poisoning and other maladies. Our neighborhoods also suffer from a lack of access to health care and perhaps the greatest public health crisis in our town: homicide.

Building upon existing institutions, I plan to expand access and work with polluting industries to significantly reduce environmental hazards. I will attack our homicide rate from a policing and public health perspective.

I will also support the efforts of non-profit and for-profit corporations seeking to provide fresh foods in Jack London and West Oakland – these 'food deserts' are unacceptable, we can and we will do better.[12] [8]

Endorsements

2016

Gibson McElhaney received endorsements from the following in 2016:

  • Alameda County Democratic Central Committee[1]

See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Oakland City Council, District 3
2013–2021
Succeeded by
Carroll Fife